Thursday, July 29, 2010

It’s important for moms everyone to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph. So on Thursday of each week, we do exactly that.

1. Earlier in the week, when a storm was threatening, I actually remembered to go out and take the diapers off the clothesline. Of course, this caused the rain to pass us by…but still. If it HAD rained, the diapers were safe inside!

2. I actually remembered to pray for someone I’d said I would pray for. Too many times I offer the “I’ll pray for you!” then forget when prayer time comes around. But I’ve been really making an effort to remember individual intentions so that was a step in the right direction.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Because I’m ambitious, I decided I wanted to try something new for Veronica’s birthday cake this year. Last year I made cupcakes because they are easy, and I knew she would care less about what they looked like and more about how they tasted. But this year I thought she would be able to appreciate it more if I did something fun. Something new. Something like…fondant.

I’ll admit that seeing the Threadcakes contest entries may also have influenced my decision. There are some awesome cakes! And some not-so-awesome ones. And some are just plain scary. But some are definitely awesome!

Here are the ingredients. Plus a little water. Tip: don’t assume all bags of mini-marshmallows are 16 ounces. Because they’re not. I don’t know how I know that, I just do.

Melt the marshmallows in the microwave with a little water. I nuked them for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until they were completely melted.

Add some powdered sugar and mix it a bit.

Then plop it down on a well-dusted surface. I actually used Crisco to grease my counter as was recommended on another website, but I think next time I will try just dusting with powdered sugar.

Knead away!

I wanted a blue cake, so I pulled out the Cornflower Blue Wilton icing color that has been languishing in my pantry. I added this much and kneaded it in. Then I added this much again. And again. And then I added A LOT. It took more than I thought it would to get the color I was looking for.

I didn’t get a good picture of the just-colored fondant. I got distracted. But I wrapped it up and bagged it, then put it in the refrigerator since it was still several days before the party.

Onto the cake! I chose chocolate, and kind of mixed a couple different recipes to get what I wanted.

I like using a whisk to mix my dry ingredients. Just thought you should know.

Once the batter was ready, I divided it into this 8-inch pan…

…this large Pyrex bowl…

…and this loaf pan.

The cake in the bowl looks a little funny on top, but it actually baked fine. Just took a bit longer than the other two, since it was thicker.

I flipped the bowl cake upside down and put it on top of the 8-inch round cake to make a dome.

Then my wonderful husband helped me cut up the loaf cake to shape a tail. He is the best! I made mint buttercream frosting to go with the chocolate cake. Yum! I will definitely do that again.

Here’s where it got tricky. The fondant was cold from being in the fridge, so I microwaved it a little to warm it up. But rolling it out still took FOREVER. Even Paul took a turn because I was getting so tired. Not really sure why that happened. Was it because I used to Crisco to grease the counter when I kneaded it? Or because I colored it before refrigerating it? Or because I just don’t know what I’m doing?

Additionally, even though I had greased the counter, the fondant stuck to it pretty badly. I had to carefully roll it onto my rolling pin while detaching it from the counter with a spatula. Not fun!

As you can see, the resulting fondant was not exactly smooth. There were some tears and almost-tears that made it a little rough-looking. But it was surprisingly easy to shape and cut once it was on the cake. I even pinched the tips of the tail to make it look more whale-like.

Then I colored the rest of the buttercream for decorating.

Though it didn’t turn out exactly perfect, it was fun to put together and rewarding to see the finished product. And of course Veronica loved it. The marshmallow fondant was actually tasty, but I think I’d like to try working with the other types as well, just to see what the differences are. Hopefully next time I can keep it from sticking so badly!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

It’s important for moms everyone to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph. So on Thursday of each week, we do exactly that.

1. I mopped my floor! Boy was it ever dirty. I hate mopping, but I do love that fresh Pine Sol smell. And it’s nice to not be staring at the same old stains on the tile. Now I get to stare at new ones.

2. In an effort to de-clutter our front bedroom, Paul got the pieces of Veronica’s big girl bed out and put it together. I helped. The front room is much cleaner, which is great…but…BUT…I wish we had thought ahead about the possibility that Veronica may not be content to sleep in her crib anymore with a shiny new (to us) bed in her room. Because she isn’t. So we inadvertently started the process of getting her to sleep in a real bed. But that is another story for another post.

3. I went to bed on time once this week. Hey, one time is better than none.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

It’s the final day of the tour, and I have just a couple things to wrap up.

One thing I failed to mention in my review yesterday is that the persuasiveness of the dragon prince is very well done. I could hear his slimy, syrupy voice in my head (at least, I imagine it to be syrupy) as he tries to convince Koren that it is better for her to be forced to love him than never love him at all. Red flag! That is exactly the opposite of what a loving Creator would (and in our case, does) ask of his subjects, and Koren seems to know this. I’m interested to see how things develop with the prince.

There are a lot of great posts this tour, but I really liked this interview with Bryan Davis by Jill Williamson. This two part review by Fred Warren is also great (part 1 and part 2). And Rebecca Miller has a thoughtful post about betrayal and the abuse of power here.

It was a great tour! I love that even people’s criticisms are given in a respectful manner. Even though this book didn’t quite wow me, I am still looking forward to reading more, and I would definitely recommend it as a fun and wholesome read.

Disclaimer: In conjunction with the CSFF blog tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

I’ve discovered that reviewing books is not easy for me. Sure, my husband and I may have lengthy discussions about this book or that book that we’ve read – what we liked, didn’t like, etc. I definitely don’t pull my punches in those conversations. But when it comes to putting my thoughts on paper (or the computer screen in this case), I become a little hesitant. I just really don’t like the idea of saying something negative out in the open where anyone (read: the author) might read it.

At the same time, I definitely believe in honesty, so honesty is what you’ll get.

I liked Starlighter. Really, I did. But I didn’t love it. The story was intriguing, the characters were admirable (at least, those that were meant to be), the action was fast-paced, but it just didn’t grab me the way my favorite books do.

I really loved the idea of two different worlds, both with legends about the other, connected by a mysterious portal. Additionally, the search for (and hopefully, rescue of) the slaves that used to call Major Four their home makes for a great plot. While the first chapter drew me in, I definitely felt like something was missing at times. It was kind of back and forth between being intrigued, and waiting to be intrigued again.

One of the things that seemed lacking was the character development. I like well-developed and three dimensional characters, and I just didn’t feel that I knew most of the characters very well at all. It was hard to guess at their motivations at times, and so some of their actions and decisions seemed staged.

Koren, however, was an exception to this. I think that the opportunity she had to tell her background story did a lot to help me understand where she was coming from. It was easy to see why she would be so eager to help her fellow slaves after all she had been through and witnessed, and her strong belief in a loving Creator gave credibility to the trust she had that all would work out in the end. She is heroic and self-sacrificing, but also flawed, as shown by her threat to end the life of the dragon prince, even if her motivation was to help Jason. She is a character that I care about, and I want to know what happens to her.

Of course, at the same time I found Arxad’s character interesting because I didn’t know much about his motivations. But I think that works well for a supporting character. It throws a little mystery in there. And I do like a little mystery.

Another difficult point for me, as other participants have mentioned, is the presence of both magical and technological elements in the story. While I don’t think magic and technology are mutually exclusive, they didn’t seem to mesh well in this case. It might just be my own hang up of needing to know how things work (magic, tech or otherwise). I was satisfied by the explanation that extane is the fuel for the glowing energy channels, but there are so many other things in the story that go unexplained. How do the people of Mesolantrum possess things like courier tubes and photo guns, and how was Uriel Blackstone able to construct the portal and the complicated mechanisms surrounding it? And what is the Reflections Crystal, and how does it tell if someone is lying? I hope we will find out more in the books to come.

While Starlighter wasn’t quite as gripping as I’d hoped it would be, I am definitely still interested in the story and I intend to read the rest of the series as it is published. More to come tomorrow!

Disclaimer: In conjunction with the CSFF blog tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.

Monday, July 19, 2010

I had intended to start this post “Two years ago today I was giving birth…”

But that would only have worked if I had posted this on Saturday like I planned. (Did I just hear a collective sigh of relief?) Life sometimes gets in the way of things – even important things like blogging about a two-year-old’s birthday party and her awesome cake.

Veronica knows the Happy Birthday song, but she isn’t used to having it sung to her. She wasn’t really sure what to make of being the center of attention. At least not in this situation.

You want me to do what to those candles?

She was ready to devour that whale.

Somehow, it managed to keep a smile on its face through it all.

Unfortunately, I stepped away for a moment and missed Veronica’s mouth-first dive into the writing to the side there. You can see some of the evidence beside the knife. Which wasn’t there when she was licking the foil, just to be clear.

An animal puzzle! Veronica does love her some animals.

Everyone knows my girl so well. She scored big time on the bows and clips. Which is good since she tends to leave them scattered around the house. Now we have matching pairs again!

What is this? A child who is excited to read the card? Believe me, that didn’t last long.

You can never have too many clips.

This was one of her favorites. Stuffed animals are always a sure way straight to Veronica’s heart. And she wears that animal-loving heart on her sleeve. Er, face. Lion has joined the ranks of crib animals, keeping Veronica company during the night-time hours. Her cousins made a good choice.

Even the promise of another present couldn’t quite make her let go of lion.

As with most occasions involving present-opening, chaos eventually won the day. I mean, really - what child can resist the call of brightly wrapped goodies? Even some adults can’t help themselves. But honey, I was only helping our daughter get through the tougher packaging. Sure, Paul, sure.

And the biggest present of the day was this bike from Mommy and Daddy (AKA Aunt Kathy. Thanks, Kath!) Veronica spent all of two seconds on it before getting scared. But I have confidence that she will get used to it soon enough, if her rocking horse is any indication.

So, while two years ago today I wasn’t giving birth anymore, I was beginning my (thankfully short-lived) journey into sleep deprivation.

This month’s selection for the CSFF blog tour is Starlighter, by Bryan Davis. A novel aimed at young adults, it follows young swordsman Jason Masters, who has grown up hearing legends about a world where humans have been enslaved by dragons. But if the legends are based in truth, then he is determined to do whatever it takes to bring the slaves, called the “Lost Ones”, home.

At the same time, young slave-girl Koren is just discovering that she has a gift – one that could help not only herself, but all the humans under the dragons’ yoke. But is this gift really a blessing or a curse?

There will more to follow in the next two days. In the mean time, visit Bryan Davis’ blog here, and also his website here.

Disclaimer: In conjunction with the CSFF blog tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

1. I made Grandma’s Meatballs and Mushroom Sauce on Tuesday. It is one of my favorite recipes, but I don’t often make it because I don’t like making meatballs. But it turned out so tasty! Thank you, Grandma and Mom, for passing down that recipe. I’ll have to post it here some time.

2. Monday was a day off for both Paul and me, and while we did get to relax some, we also got some things done around the house. Perfect combo of rest and projects.

3. I caught up on sleep this weekend. Monday was the first time in a long time that I didn’t feel like I either needed caffeine or a nap to make it through the day. Of course, I haven’t gotten enough sleep the past few nights already, so it was a temporary success.

Veronica noticed that the babies were getting some attention. She had to get in on the action.

And all the while, still there was swimming. I don’t think the pool was ever empty the entire time we were there.

We had to go before it was fully dark in order to get the girls to bed on time. We caught glimpses of a couple fireworks on the way home. With the new law, maybe next year we will get to set some small ones ourselves! It was a great party…but I don’t envy whoever did the dishes.